| Alan Price | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 April 1942 |
| Origin | Fatfield, Washington, England |
| Genres | Rock, Blues rock, Psychedelic rock, Pop |
| Occupations | Musician, musical arranger |
| Instruments | keyboards, vocals, bass, guitar |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Labels | Decca, Parrot (US), Deram, CBS, Vertigo, Sanctuary, United Artists, Jet, Indigo, BGO, AP |
| Associated acts | The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, The Alan Price Set, Price and Fame, Alan Price and Friends, The Animals, Eric Burdon, The Electric Blues Company, Bobby Tench, Zoot Money |
| Notable instruments | |
| Vox Continental, RMI Electra Piano | |
Alan Price (born 19 April 1942, Fatfield, Washington, County Durham) is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work.
Price is a self-taught musician and was educated at Jarrow Grammar School, South Tyneside and was a founding member of the Tyneside group The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, which was later renamed The Animals. His organ-playing on songs by The Animals, such as "House of the Rising Sun", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "Bring It On Home To Me" was a key element in the success of the group.
After leaving the Animals, Price went on to have success on his own and with Georgie Fame. He introduced the songs of Randy Newman to a wider audience. Later he appeared on his own television show and made television guest appearances. He also had success with film scores and acting parts, and wrote the score to the stage musical Andy Capp.
More recently, Price performed and recorded with The Electric Blues Company, and has made other appearances with other artists such as The Manfreds.
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Price formed The Animals in 1962 and left the band in 1965 to form The Alan Price Set, with the line-up of Price, Clive Burrows (baritone saxophone), Steve Gregory (tenor saxophone), John Walters (trumpet), Peter Kirtley (guitar), Rod "Boots" Slade (bass) and "Little" Roy Mills (drums). In the same year, he appeared in the film Dont Look Back, which was filmed featuring Bob Dylan on tour in the UK.
During 1966, he enjoyed singles success with "I Put A Spell On You" (UK no. 9) and "Hi-Lili-Hi-Lo" (UK 11); in 1967, the Randy Newman song "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear" (UK 4) and the original "The House That Jack Built" (UK 4); while "Don't Stop The Carnival" (UK 13) followed in 1968.[1] He went on to host shows such as the musical Price To Play in the late 1960s, which featured Price performing and introducing the music of guests such as Fleetwood Mac and Jimi Hendrix. His second album, A Price On His Head (1967) featured seven songs by Randy Newman, who was virtually unknown at that time. In August 1967, he appeared with The Animals at the Hippie "Love-in", in the grounds of Woburn Abbey.
A later association with Georgie Fame resulted in "Rosetta", which became a Top 20 hit (no. 11) in 1971 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] Two albums followed, Fame and Price and Price and Fame Together. During this period Price and Fame secured a regular slot on The Two Ronnies show produced by BBC Television. He recorded the autobiographical album Between Today and Yesterday (1974) from which the single "Jarrow Song" was taken, returning Price to the UK singles chart (no. 6).[1]
Price participated in three reunions of The Animals between 1968 and 1984. In July 1983, The Animals started their last world tour. Price's solo performance of "O Lucky Man" was included in their set. In 1984, they broke up for the final time and the album Rip It To Shreds — Greatest Hits Live was released, comprising recordings from their concert at Wembley Stadium in London.
Price recorded two albums with The Electric Blues Company featuring guitarist and vocalist Bobby Tench and keyboardist Zoot Money, the first of which was Covers (1994). The second, A Gigster's Life for Me (1996)[2] was recorded as part of Sanctuary's Blues Masters Series.
Price still tours the UK with his own band, The Manfreds, The Searchers and The Hollies.
Price has been closely involved with the work of film director Lindsay Anderson. In 1973 he wrote the music for Anderson's film O Lucky Man!, which he performs on screen in the film and appears as himself in one part of the storyline. In 1987, he wrote the score to Anderson's final film, The Whales of August.
In 1992 Anderson included a touching episode in his autobiographical BBC film Is That All There Is?, with a boat trip down the River Thames to scatter Rachel Roberts & Jill Bennett's ashes on the waters while Price accompanied himself and sang the song "Is That All There Is?".
He acted in Alfie Darling, a sequel to the film Alfie, during the course of which he became romantically involved with his co-star, Jill Townsend. He also composed and sang the theme tune to the 1982 film adaptation of The Plague Dogs, "Time and Tide".
In 1981 he composed the score for the musical Andy Capp, based on the eponymous comic strip. Price also wrote the lyrics, together with the actor Trevor Peacock. The play transferred from the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester to London's Aldwych Theatre in September 1982.
In 1986 he wrote and performed the theme tune to the successful LWT/ITV situation comedy Hot Metal.
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